In 1965 a family that consented to the burial of their dead was regarded not only [Guarding the Bodies of Rich Men.] as a back number but with feelings of aversion. The question arose in the minds of many if they really could love the memory of their departed one and place the body where it was liable to be stolen or desecrated; where it became the food of vermin. People in 1899 often had to even place strong guards over the tombs of rich relatives for fear that vandals might steal the body and retain it for ransom. Long after death bodies of men had been drawn from their tomb and hanged by a mob. When in 1899 Lord Kitchner, the Sidar of the British forces in Egypt, subdued and captured Khartoum, [Nineteenth Century Practices.] he permitted his men to violate the tomb of the Mahdi. The body of the Prophet was torn from its resting place and its head was decapitated. And this, note well, was done by British soldiers in 1899, to avenge the cruel death of Gen. Gordon. In 1999 desecrations, robberies and violations of graves became impossible. The world was no longer shocked by such atrocities. Hyenas, both biped and quadruped, were thrown out of business. Cremation, the purest and swiftest mode of reducing the body to dust and ashes, was universally declared to be immeasurably better than the ancient mode of burial. The dead were not permitted to pollute the ground and to infuse germs of diseases, deadly microbes, into living springs of water. It matters [Everything For and Nothing Against It.] little, in 1999, whether the cemetery were situate on top of a hill, in a valley or in the midst of a crowded city. The ashes they contained could pollute neither water, earth nor air. A mausoleum or cemetery in 1999 was often built in the most crowded or most fashionable section of a city. Cremation was acknowledged to be a clean, wholesome method of burying the dead. Boys in 1999 were not under the painful necessity while walking past a cemetery at night to whistle to keep up their courage. In 1899 the popular idea about cremation was erroneous and was largely the cause of prejudice against this method of disposing of the dead. A vast number of people believed in that year that bodies which were cremated were literally roasted or reduced to ashes over a fierce fire. When people, however, began to learn the truth of the matter, that cremated bodies were placed in the retort of a crematory and were reduced to ashes by an exceedingly high temperature and not touched in any manner by fire, then prejudice let down the bars and cremations soon became common.